Display case



May 14, 1940.

L. E. VOGT DISPLAY CASE Filed Feb. 17, 1939 Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED smits PATENT oFFicE DISPLAY CASE Lucien E. Vogt, Boston, Mass., assigner to Farrington Manufacturing Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation cfpMassachusetts Application February 17, 1939, Serial No. 256,944

4 Claims.

play the contents in a number of different ways,

and generally to improve the art of display cases.

For the purpose of illustrating the genus of the invention a typical species is shown in the accompanying drawing in which Figi is a plan View of a jewelry case;

2 is a side View of the case in closed condition;

Fig. 3 is a side view with the case opened in one of its various display positions;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the case opened in another of its display positions;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the case in still another display position; and

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises cover and bottom portions I and 2 interconnected by two links 3 which are pivoted to the top and bottom portions at 4 and 5 respectively. As

shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the bottom I may contain a pad 6 shaped to receive a watch 'I with a hook 8 over which the bail of the watch may be engaged. The links 3 are preferably in the form of thin metal straps and the pivotal connections 4 and 5 are preferably in the form of rivets as shown in Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 6 the extreme ends of the links may be offset inwardly so that the links bear on the case only at their ends.

While the details of construction of the top and bottom portions of the box may be varied widely, a typical construction is shown in Fig. 6 in which I I is the pressed-metal portion of the top I, I2 the pressed-metal portion of the bottom 2, I3 and I 4 the covering of cloth, leather or the like for the top and bottom respectively, I5 a liner for the top I, I6 and l1 lining rims extending around the inside'peripheries of the top and bottom respectively, and IB a metal rim extending around the periphery of the bottom 2 to .50 provide a at edge I9 when the box is opened.

A characteristic feature of the invention consists in that the links 3 are almost as long as the box and are pivoted to the top and bottom respectively near their forward and rearward ledges, the distance from the pivots 4 to the for- (Cl. 20G-44) ward edge of the box preferably being substantially equal to the distance from the pivots 5 to the rearward edge of the box. A display case constructed in accordance with this invention n may be adjusted into a number of different posi-V 57 tions, more effectively to display the contents in different environments. Some of the principal display positions are illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

As shown in Fig. 3lthe bottom 2 of the case is held in a position slightly inclined with rela- I0- tion to the supporting surface, the case resting on the forward edge of the bottom part 2 and on the rearward edge of the top I.A The pivotal connections between the links and the top and p bottom parts of the box are loose enough to per- 15 mit ready adjustment but tight enough to hold the parts by friction in the position shown in Fig. 3. To adjust the box from the closed position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to the position shown in Fig. 3 it is necessary merely to swing the cover I 20 through approximately relatively to the pivots 5 while swinging the rear margin of the top I over the rearward edge of the bottom 2 an-d then bringing the rear edge ofthe bottom 2.against the inner face of the top I. 25

To adjust the case into the' position shown in Fig. 4 the movement of the cover I is continued from the position shown in Fig.' 3 until the links 3 have swung about the pivots 5 'through an additional arcvof approximately the cover I 30 also being swung about the pivots 4 and the forward edge of the bottom 2 being rested inside the rearward edge of the cover I. In this position the bottom 2 is held at a much greater angle to the supporting surface so that the watch 'I 35 may be viewed from the side instead of from the top. By engaging the forward edge of the bottom 2 inside the dished top l, the bottom 2 is effectively held in position without danger of slipping. 40

As shown in Fig. 5 the top I may be folded under the bottom 2 so as to display the watch 1 in horizontal position. To bring the parts into the positions shown in Fig. 5 the links 3 are swung about the pivots 5 in a clockwise direction 45 through approximately 180 from the position shown in Fig. 2, the top I being maintained in approximately parallel relationship to the bottom I during this swinging movement. Thus when the parts reach the position shown in Fig. 50 5 the parts are reversed in position from top to bottom relatively to each other but each part retains the same relative position tothe supporting surface, that is the bottom still faces upwardly and the top still faces downwardly. To 55 attain this position the links 3 must be longer than the sum of the distances between the pivots and the front and rear edges of the parts respectively. By making the distance between the pivots 4 and the forward edge of the box equal to the distance between the pivots 5 and the rearward edge of the box, the cover I projects either to the front or to the rear, relatively to the bottom 2, when the parts are moved into the position shown in Fig. 5.

It should be understood that the present dis closure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A display case comprising a bottom and a cover which are thin and which have substantially the same horizontal dimensions, links for pivotally interconnecting the bottom and cover at opposite sides of the case, bottom pivots interconnecting one end of the links with the bottom near the rearward edge of the bottom, and cover pivots interconnecting the other ends of the links with the cover near the forward edge of the cover.

2. A display case comprising a bottom and av cover, links for pivotally interconnecting the bottom and cover at opposite sides of the case, bottom pivots interconnecting one end of the links with the bottom near the rearward edge of the bottom, and cover pivots interconnecting the other ends of the links with the cover near the forward edge of the cover, the distance between the bottom pivots and the rearward edgeV of the bottom being approximately equal to the distance between the cover pivots and the forward edge of the cover, the cover having a recess on the inside to receive one edge of the bottom when the cover is swung to inverted position and the corners of the bottom being shaped to permit said edge to extend into said recess when the bottom is inclined over the inverted cover, whereby the bottom may be displayed in inclined position over the inverted top.

3. A display case comprising a bottom and a cover, links for pivotally interconnecting the bottom and cover at opposite sides of the case, bottom pivots interconnecting one end of the links with the bottom near the rearward edge of the bottom, and cover pivots interconnecting the other ends of the links with the cover near the forward edge of the cover, the bottom being shallow and the cover being hollow on the inside, the forward edge of the bottom fitting inside the cover at the rearward edge of the cover when the cover is swung about said pivots into inverted position, whereby the bottom is securely held in inclined position with the rearward edge of the bottom uppermost.

4. A display case comprising a bottom and a cover which are thin and which have substantially the same horizontal dimensions,v links for pivotally interconnecting the bottom' and cover at opposite sides of the case, bottom pivots interconnecting the rearward ends of the links near the rearward edge of the bottom, and cover pivots interconnecting the forward ends of the links near the forward edge of the cover, the distance between the bottom pivots and the rearward edge of the bottom being approximately equal to the distance between the cover pivots and the forward edge of the cover, the bottom pivots being approximately midway between the upper and lower sides of the bottom and the cover pivots being approximately midway between the upper and lower sides of the cover, whereby the cover may be swung from closed position to an open position under the bottom where the bottom rests upon the outer side of the cover and does not project substantially in any horizontal direction relatively to the cover.

LUCIEN E. VOGT. 

